EAST MARLBOROUGH — For the second year in a row, hunters, landowners, conservationists and other community members met to share their views about hunting.

A panel consisting of homeowners, hunters and a member of the state game commission met Thursday night at the Township Building to give anyone a chance to talk about sharing public recreational lands.

Organized by the Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County, which allows hunting on several of its massive conserved properties, the forum was also a way to let the public know how conservancy officials select hunters who are allowed to work their properties.

Jim Jordan, executive director of the Brandywine and Red Clay Valley Associations and hunting coordinator for the Auburn Heights II preserve, said hunters on those lands are handpicked and, as in the case at Auburn Heights, often work in the conservation field.

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An active hunter who said his family eats only game meat, Jordan said it’s impossible to stockpile wildlife and therefore game animals must be managed reasonably.

He said a self-imposed hunter’s tax and other donations from hunting enthusiasts generate $8 billion annually for wildlife preservation and management.

“I know to some people listening to this, it must sound like a blood sport. But we all take care of what we enjoy, whether it’s golf or whatever,” Jordan said. “And hunters really open their wallets ... to help fund conservation.”

Mixing hunters, hikers and equestrians — which happens frequently at spots such as the Stateline Woods preserve, according to conservancy director Gwen Lacy — is the reason the organization began registering and identifying its hunters publicly.

The hunters are required to register on the conservancy website, post their status on their vehicles and wear a bright pink armband while they are hunting.

Mike Gowdy, hunting coordinator for Stateline Preserve, said he and other hunters have many interactions with outdoor enthusiasts and always try to be positive.

“We do try to educate the hikers that we see out there,” Gowdy said. “Any negative feedback from the hikers is very detrimental to us hunting there.”

It has become increasingly difficult to hunt Stateline at certain times, he said, and he urged hunters to remain vigilant and to keep up their interactions with hikers and equestrians.

Keith Mullin of the Pennsylvania Game Commission said that while the deer population in southern Chester County is stabilizing, in some places the population is still too big.

The problem, Mullin said, is that the deer feed on public lands then retreat to private spaces where hunters can’t get to them.

Staging culls like the one coordinated by New Bolton Center a few years ago only turns the deer into vermin and does little to actually control the population, Jordan said.

Another major problem facing both hunters and recreationists is poachers, who landowner Sue McDermott said she has encountered on a regular basis.

“I have bumped into people on my land who have looked me in my face and said, ‘Oh, I have the landowner’s permission to hunt here.’ And I say, oh really?” McDermott said.

In those instances, Mullin said, it’s best for safety reasons not to approach a suspected poacher: rather, contact the gaming commission or local police.

Mullin said landowners can place any provisions on hunters using their properties that they want, so long as those provisions fall within the legal confines of Pennsylvania’s gaming law, Title 34.

Lacy, who recently joined the ranks of pro-population control after hitting her first deer with her vehicle, said the goal of Thursday’s forum was to open the lines of communication.